Becoming a Better Writer in 2015, part 2

In December, I wrote about setting goals for being a better writer in 2015. As it is now March and we’ve had three months, it seemed a good time to check in. How are you doing? (If you want to check what you wrote, go to the comments here.)

Leaving out my usual quantitative goals, which are particular to my own writing style and won’t be interesting or inspiring to others, I wrote that my goals this year were:

–to do something that scares me, take a chance on the work in a way I haven’t done before
–to choose a particular aspect of writing to study
–to find writers I haven’t read and classics I haven’t explored
–come up with new ways to fill the well, “maybe take a class in watercolors or something.
–think about what would make my work more joyful, stronger, exciting to me

[pullquote][W]e as creators are born to take things apart and blow them up and play with new visions and see what makes our own souls sing.[/pullquote]

One thing worth mentioning is the fact that my output has been quite slow. We traveled in early January and I’m still healing from two knee surgeries, so my brain is not functioning at full power just yet. This is part of life, too, that we are not always writing under perfect conditions. I was happy to have written 13000 words in February, mostly in short stints sitting in my chair with my leg propped up and piled with ice. It’s not enough to meet my goals for the year, but it’s okay for a month when life was compromised.

–That book is fulfilling one of my goals—to take a chance, to try something that scares me. I have no idea where it will go from here, or how, but I’m glad to be leaping off the ledge again. It’s exhilarating.

–I haven’t chosen any particular thing to study this year. So maybe that will come later. Or maybe it won’t. It sounds tiring right now, so as a creative professional, I’ll let that go for the moment.

–Reading new to me writers: yes. I’ve done lots of that. I read more than 25 novels in January and February, and many of the authors were new to me. I liked a lot of them, loved one (Us, by David Nichols). Since Outlander is coming back on in a couple of weeks, I’ve resolved to read the second book in the series before it starts. It’s…uh…really long. Not sure I’ll make it in two weeks, but it’s fun to try.

—New ways to fill the well. Done. I’m madly in love with watercolors and I’m taking a class, and a friend gave me another series for when I finish this. It’s exhilarating and pleasurable and difficult in entirely different ways than writing. I find myself at ease after I paint, and we all know that ease is a great place to begin to open to the writing work. Open, at peace, willing to serve the muses. Yeah, that.

—Think about what would make my work more joyful to me. This has been the best part of the year thus far. The book that’s testing me, urging me to go in new directions makes me feel nimble and alive.

But also, I have discovered over the past year that I love the New Adult genre. I’m writing book #5 in the series (Going the Distance) and it’s the most actual fun I’ve had writing in a decade. I didn’t know it would suit my voice so perfectly when I began—I only tried it as an experiment because I was ambushed by a character, and I never, ever turn down a gift book. Turns out it that I love the frankness, the freedom to be earthy and not play by the rules of romance, exactly, but make some of them up as I go. It is a blast, and I’m going to keep writing it. A new series is brewing.

That last bit, the joy, is one of the most important parts of being a creative professional. The world thinks it knows what it wants in terms of art and entertainment. It makes rules and creates academies and passes down pronouncements on what’s good and what’s bad art. But we as creators are born to take things apart and blow them up and play with new visions and see what makes our own souls sing. That’s where breakout hits like oh...Twilight or The Art of Racing in the Rain come from. My soul is singing right now, and that’s the best possible place to be. I believe when I’m in line with that, I’m doing my best work, and whatever I have to do to find that spot is worth it.

Not that the actual work is easy of course. Just that the pursuit is joyful.

Maybe I’ll get around to reading some classic writers and maybe I won’t. So far, the year is going pretty well and I’m enjoying the work. That’s good.
How about you? Did you come up with something to focus on this year? Are you making progress? Have you changed your mind, or shifted direction? Do you need to re-commit to something or let it go? Let’s talk.

Barbara O'Neal has written a number of highly acclaimed novels, including 2012 RITA winner, How To Bake A Perfect Life, which landed her in the RWA Hall of Fame and was a Target Club Pick. She is a highly respected teacher who also publishes material for writers at Patreon.com/barbaraoneal.
She is at work on her next novel to be published by Lake Union in July.
A complete backlist is available here.

Comments

Thanks so much for bringing this up again. Though I didn’t comment back in December, I actually made a vision board for 2015 after reading your post.

My goals included:
1 outline my childrens series and complete the first manuscript
2 stop questioning, follow my gut and just Believe
3 read and reread kids books, this time with a writer’s eye
4 plumb my childhood for a genuine sense of identity and direction

The writing and the reading have gone well. The series is outlined and lots of behind the scenes writing is done. Reading is easy too, although its very interesting to read and not just fall into the world but also be aware of its structure.
Stop questioning, follow my gut gut, and just believe. This one is the most important but also the hardest.
I spent three years working on a women’s thriller and it just wasn’t coming off the pages for me. Then one night a character just fell out of my head and bounced into the living room laughing. Not literally obviously, but it was like I could see her, I still remember her ponytail whipping around the corner. The next day I wrote the premise in one sitting and within two weeks I had a frame work.
I didn’t want to write it, to be honest, but it won’t leave me alone. It’s a children’s book, and I just didn’t believe I was someone who could write for kids. But thousands of words plus a complete but unrelated picture book since December say otherwise.
So I am trying to believe more, follow more and question less. One way I do this is to give strange ideas that pop into my head room to grow before disregaurding them.
But the questioning, the doubting, is still hard to turn off.
So that’s why number four is there, so when my critic asks who says? I can look in my childhood and say, I said. Little nerdy, book-absorbing me would’ve liked it.
Thanks again for sharing your vision for the year. I saw one of your books in a store the other day and it was weird to feel like I kinda knew the author.

I’m at quite a different place: I’m revising the last scene in the first book of my soon-to-be-published debut novel – and it is the scariest thing I can imagine, only I’ve been waiting to be at this place so long I almost don’t believe it.

I have a detailed writing process that takes me from plot + sketchy details to finished scene. My goal for this year is to corral that process, tame it, make it better and more efficient, so that I become faster at finishing scenes – this book took way too long to finish.

That, and master the graphics program I have, so I have a way to make rudimentary covers which can either be polished by professionals, or serve as a starting place for discussion.

It is exciting but there is a lot to learn.

I like your description: “Not that the actual work is easy of course. Just that the pursuit is joyful.”

Barbara, your joy comes through! Sounds like you are healing well and writing and painting through it.

I’m not doing so very well with meeting the goals I made, writing or otherwise. Being busy means that I’m only doing the essentials and there’s not enough time for day-dreaming, which I find necessary for the creative life. Basically, I am in proposal purgatory. I barely steal time for the pet projects. I still need to feed my family. And there’s still a ton of music to prepare. This week I am doing school visits, which has used up all my extroversion hours and the week’s not over. LOL. But the kids are loving my new book, so I do love looking at their happy faces. I think during Easter holidays I will have the necessary downtime I crave and need.

I self published my first book of a YA series last weekend, a major milestone. And the next is in editing (yes, I pay a pro). And the third is being drafted now. In the meantime, my middle grade novel is with beta readers. I plan to submit that one to agents. I’m behind in word count, mostly because of all the editing in progress. I’m catching up on classics like A Clockwork Orange (audio version, very horror story job by the narrator oh my brothers). And I’m reading new blogs and books on the craft. So it’s a good year so far!

I love hearing that your soul is singing, Barbara! A singing soul beats out painful knees any day of the week, I’m guessing. At least in the long run.

Love your list. I just looked back at mine. I wanted to finish my rewrite by the new year, and… I just finished last week. But it feels great to type “The End”, no matter the circumstance or how many times I’ve done it before. And in my final read-through I could actually self-recognize my progress. Some things I’d been thinking I’d never get, I seem to have managed to internalize – at least to some degree.

I’ve decided I like this book. And these characters. Which brings me to my final note of self-challenge from my comment: working toward overcoming self-doubt. I sent this manuscript to more first-round beta-readers than I ever have. Each and every one is a writer I respect. And you know what? I was the least scared I’ve ever been in sending anything I’ve ever written. As I said, I do believe I’ve made progress here, but that’s not quite why I’m less anxious. It’s that I’ve made my peace with this project. It’s worthy of my effort. Whatever the readers say about it won’t change that. I’m sure it will need more work, and that some won’t connect with it at all. But all of that matters less to me than ever before.

So, all in all, I’m feeling pretty good right after the first quarter, too. Now it’s on to book two! I’ve got the craziest idea ever for the opening. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks for the forum and for sharing, Barbara! Wishing you a great next three-quarters!

Barbara, once again the universe (in the form of you) sent me a message I needed to hear! Wonderful post – joy, taking risks and simply not being scared is what we all need to hear.
I hope your knees are better soon!